Game Addiction, When?

Question by zZretlaV: Game addiction, when?
Lately i see people comparing heavy drugs, like heroin for example with video game addiction.

When are u a video game addict? How u know if someone is addicted?

To me smokers are worse than playing games and yet they too judge.

Are u addicted to your job because u spend a lot of time on it?
Are u addicted to sport because all day long ur training?
Do u need to go to the rehab?

When is someone a game addict? So he needs to go to rehab?

I myself, college student, solid grades all good, but a lot of free time.
And i can use my free time as i like, which is video games.10 hours whole day if i feel like it.
I dont work, i have money and scholarships.
I dont smoke, take drugs….drink alcohol occasonaly.
I do not destroy my life with games in any way , financially nor that im failing my studies.

But family and relatives often treat me as addict.
And it really “pissed me off” when my uncle aproached me last week and he wanted to talk seriously about my problem????

Where is the line between addiction and using ur free time.
Honestly i play games not because i must, but because i like to.
I do not have to play them. Personal test: every year i go to my summer house wich doesnt even have PC.
Its sea, surf , sun and party….my day is whole and there isnt even time to play, so 3 months not a single thought that i must play.
I do not feel any “addict” urge at all.

So im asking u again, how to proprly diagnose game addict?
Sheer -time spent on PC,video games- isnt diagnose.

Best answer:

Answer by Stephen
Well if you don’t have an urge to play videogames when your otherwise occupied then I would say your not necessarily a video game ”addict”. I myself play videogames sometimes but if you want relatives to lay off about calling you an addict I would say maybe find something else to do with your free time, like sports or whatever. That way, you can still play videogames but you also have other things to do so that you don’t come off as a video game addict. Because playing videogames for up to 10 hours can make people think your an addict lol. Hope this helped 🙂

Answer by Mr. Fantastic
Well… I never went to any institution to get myself diagnosed with gaming addiction, but i can safely say i was pretty addicted. I played world of warcraft a lot, and while i was playing i felt the same way as you. My grades at school were ok, i went to work and i played football. But i always felt like i rather could be at home playing. I played whenever i had time off. This went on for about a year or so (until i got a girlfriend).

The addiction in itself is hard to explain but if you feel like the gaming is the most fun you can have and feel like you are in an euphoric state when you finally can play, you probably have a mild addiction. I felt that way. Every time i turned on the computer and i could just sit down and keep progressing my character in an utterly pointless and fictional world i felt happy.

When you think about it there is so much more to do instead of playing games. Work out, hang out with friends or girlfriend, focus more on studies, earn money, etc.

I still play games, but take it in moderation. If I feel like my main goal of the week is to reach a level or an achievement i realise i have to take a step back and cool off.

You might ask: but what else is there? If I have time off and i can’t spend my time any better that to have some fun, it’s perfectly OK to play some games. Put think about what you could be doing or perhaps more importantly: what you SHOULD be doing.

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